Diana+

I have two medium format cameras, a Holga 120SF and a Diana+. I bought the Holga back in 2004 (? I think...can't really remember now), but didn't really get the hang of it until like two years ago. Then I bought the Diana+ last summer when I went to Hong Kong. Both cameras have a lot in common; besides its plastic-ness and toy/lomographic nature, it has something in common with me - we're all products of HK. The Diana was originally produced in HK in the 60s, then the Holga in the 80s.

Until recently I've only really used the Holga as my main medium format camera, 'cause it's easy to use. There's no aperture or shutter speed setting, just point, shoot, and roll. It's (sort of) reliable, except for the occasional red flares (which I - think - I've found a way to get rid of, by making my own lens hood out of card paper).

The Diana+ is slightly smaller and lighter, and gives me more artistic scope. I can change the 120mm back to a 35mm back, allowing it to take photos with the normal 35mm film. (I did have a 35mm back for the Holga too but that's really ma-faan/troublesome; and I've left it in Britain.) Plus there's a "B" button on the Diana+, so I can take long exposure photos with the cable release.

Anyway, I can't remember why but a couple of weeks ago I took out the Diana+ from my shelves and decided to start shooting! The first roll was a 120mm Fujichrome Velvia 50 (my favourite reversal film!) - I had it cross-processed at "Frame*", a photo developing & processing shop and cafe in Nishinomiya (get off at Hankyu Kotoen station; close to Kwansei Gakuin University). It was a bit of a trek, took me over an hour to get there, and quite expensive too... I might try another shop in Umeda, which a Japanese senpai from the photography club recommended. The cross-processing at Frame* was okay, I was a little disappointed 'cause the colours weren't as saturated as I'd expected. Maybe it was a little over-exposed, maybe I had set the aperture too large? The portraits of Morgan and Ivan were pretty good though, I quite liked them (and so did Morgan and Ivan).



The second roll was just a cheap, simple 35mm Fujifilm Superia 400 that I've had for ages. I loaded the film into the 35mm back. It was not a disaster, but the photos didn't turn out the way I wanted... I used the additional viewfinder (which came with the 55mm wide-angle lens) which is positioned slightly higher than the original viewfinder, so the composition of the photos were completely wrong, in terms of the level/height of the object/model. Almost everyone's head got chopped off at the top of the frame, or had the sprocket holes right across their foreheads... anyway I guessed I've learned a lesson now!

I'm planning to take the Holga (modified now - with the paper lens hood) and a couple of Velvia 50 with me to the Shikoku road trip later this week. I think it's been feeling a little bit left out 'cause I keep using the Diana+. I have this thing where I pretend my cameras are my pets, and I feel bad if I leave one unused for a period of time, which happens often considering I have erm... too many cameras? Here with me in Japan there are 5 (Nikon F50, Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2, Fujifilm Instax Wide, Holga 120SF and Diana+), but sitting at home I think there're two/three other instant cameras (one smaller Fujifilm Instax, a much-treasured Polaroid SLR and another bigger Polaroid which takes wider photos)... I had to switch to Fujifilm Instax from Polaroid since the latter stopped manufacturing the film a few years ago.

Now that I'm starting to get into lomography, I'm considering getting a few accessories for the Holga and the Diana+. For example I'm quite tempted to get the lens adaptor for the Diana+, so I can mount my Nikkor lenses onto the plastic. And there are a couple of Holga lenses available on the internet, too, but I'll have to check whether they're compatible with the Holga 120SF, since the Holga on sale now is a newer model and I bought mine several years ago.



P.S. My favourite operatic soprano, Renee Fleming, who recently won a Grammy for Best Classical Vocal Performance for her latest solo album Verismo, will be releasing her second non-classical album (the first was Haunted Heart, a Jazz album which I quite often play on my iTunes) this spring. Dark Hope will include covers of Duffy, Jefferson Airplane, and Muse! I've seen her performance in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (she plays Tatyana, my favourite operatic heroine; I own a DVD of this opera!) , and I saw her "live" last summer singing Violetta in Royal Opera House's production of Verdi's La Traviata on the big screen at Trafalgar Square (and heard her rehearse in a distance when I went onto a ROH tour). But I've never seen her perform live on a stage - in front of my eyes. There was one time when she performed with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in my hometown, but obviously I was not there... anyway I'm really hoping that I can see her perform live one day, that's why I'm dying to go to the Proms this year!